Stephanie Davis has revealed that she's back in rehab - but this time she's sober and helping other people.

The actress spoke exclusively to Mirror Online in her first interview since her return to Hollyoaks was announced.

And she said that it's going back to the Channel 4 soap which has made her keen to give and receive as much help as she can.

The 25-year-old, who shares one-year-old son Caben with ex Jeremy McConnell , said going to Charterhouse Clinic saved her life.

And it's for that reason that she wants to keep going back - something she'll do for as long as she lives.

Steph visits rehab regularly (Image: Instagram)

She's been working on her music and posting videos on Instagram (Image: Instagram)

Steph told us: "It saved my life, 100%. I wouldn't have been here without it, or without Caben."

She added: "I always come back. It's part of the after treatment, this is basically my life now, I have to work the programme every single day for the rest of my life but I'm fine with that because I love the programme and because it's given me a life that I never thought I'd have.

"But I have to work it."

Steph goes back to the clinic every Tuesday to have sessions herself and to offer support to other addicts.

She said: "It's not being a sponsor, it's trying to help people with my experiences, so I can say, 'Look I've been to this rehab and I've come through this'.

"The proof's in the pudding, and when they're scared about starting that process, I've been there and look at me."

The former CelebrityBig Brother star said giving back is all part of the process and that she often gets messages from people unaware of where they can get help.

She's helping other addicts with their treatment (Image: Instagram)

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As well as visiting the clinic weekly, she'll also sometimes spend weekends there or even a whole week to "top up" her treatment and work with other addicts.

She said: "I said to them I'll always come back here.

"Because I'm going back to Hollyoaks I want to get in as much knowledge as I can before I go back because I'll be working a lot.

"If I get a few weeks holiday from work I'll use one week to go back there. I'll probably do that forever."

Steph said that a big part of her recovery was learning to love herself.

"I think a lot of it for me is I had really low self worth," she said.

"And I know I'm in the public eye and people see that you've put your life out there and think you must have everything, but you could have put me in a room full of people but I was the loneliest person in the world.

She said it's a life-long thing (Image: Instagram)

She can't wait to get back to Hollyoaks (Image: Twitter)

"I felt so lonely and my self worth was bad, I didn't love myself, I lost all respect for myself. It was really painful going through the process of learning to love myself.

"I was there for over eight weeks, every day was intense therapy.

"I had to practice and practice until I loved myself, telling myself in the mirror every day, even if I didn't believe it, until I believed it. That gave me the tools of how to cope with the rocky periods in normal life."

Steph has turned her life around since welcoming her son Caben, although she admits it's difficult being a single mum - even with the support of her own mum to help her through.

She said: "It's been hard, in all honesty, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. It is hard, but my mum's really good and if I need a break.

"We've decided recently she'll have him one day on the weekend for the whole day so I can get on top of the housework and get the washing done."

Sinead O'Connor is returning (Image: Channel 4)

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Steph is due to start filming Hollyoaks again in August, with her character Sinead O'Connor making a dramatic return.

She left the show in 2015 - amid reports she was sacked for turning up drunk and late to the set, something she has always denied - after her character found out her boyfriend Ste was having an affair with her teenage stepbrother.

Now, she can't wait to get back.

She said: "I can't wait, the amount of messages I've had off cast and crew members.

"They all wanted me to come back, but then I wasn't ready."

Life is good for Steph with not only Hollyoaks, but also her own clothing range selling well and her own eye lash range coming in the next few weeks.

Steph said she doesn't know for sure where her alcohol addiction came from, and being pushed into the limelight at a young age didn't help.

She said she'd go on nights out with friends, and because of her TV star status, she'd be handed bottles of Grey Goose vodka wherever she went.

She said: "I was that naive I didn't even know that you had to mix vodka with another drink, that's how innocent I was, I didn't have a clue."

Becoming a mum changed Steph (Image: stephaniedavis88/Instagram)

She says Caben and rehab saved her life (Image: stephaniedavis88/Instagram)

Steph said she'll find out next week what her first storyline will be.

And although she already knows how her character will return, she remained tight-lipped about it.

She's also been working hard on her music, posting videos of original songs she's performed with friends on her Instagram page.

But that's not the only project she's keen to get going with.

She also wants to film a documentary about young people and addiction.

"I've been writing a lot [of music]," she told us.

"I always used to say I'd love to do it but I'm really positive that I will do it now.